TSA E3 Bingo 2011

Back by popular demand for its third annual outing is TSA’s E3 Bingo. In 4 weeks time, June 6th, 17:00 PDT (June 7th, 01:00 BST here in the UK or UTC-7 if you want to convert to your local time zone) Sony representatives will take to a stage at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena for their E3 press conference.

The E3 event itself runs for the 3 days of June 7-9th.  Here at TSA the excitement has been building for some time and as you may have read this year we may even have a presence there (hopefully in a way that avoids paying royalties to George Lucas).  Rumours and speculations of what E3 might bring have abounded as usual for the past few months and now you get your chance to take a guess at what we might see and hear over those 4 days.

TSA E3 Bingo is your chance to join us in having a little bit of fun at guessing some of the things that might happen over those 96 hours in L.A.  Just the E3-related happenings though.  If you strongly believe that during E3 Tommy Lee Jones will have to save the city from a volcanic eruption in the La Brea Tar Pits, sorry, but that does not appear on the list below so you cannot pick it.  You should also contact your nearest mental health facility to find out how to get yourself admitted.

The Game
Okay, here is how to play along.  Below is a list of 75 things that may, or may not, be announced, shown or happen during this year’s E3 and associated press conferences.  The idea is to play a kind of bingo with them.  To join in simply pick 12 items from the list that you think will be announced or shown at E3.  Then email me ([email protected]) the numbers of your chosen 12 items.

The winner(s) will be the person (or people) with the most correctly selected entries.  We are just playing for fun so what you could win is kudos from the community and the satisfaction of knowing that you guessed better than everyone else, including the staff if it is anything like previous years.  Yes, the staff are playing along too and we will let you know our picks before the show.

The Rules
You must be a TSA member to enter and only your first entry will count.  Make sure the subject of your email is “TSA E3 Bingo 2011” and be sure to include your TSA ID.  Any entries with more than 12 items listed or no TSA ID will be excluded.  Your email entry must reach me by 23:59 BST (UTC+1) on Wednesday 11th May 2011.  No entries will be accepted after that time.

The Picks
The list for you to pick from is broken up into categories mainly just for convenience and readability.  Some of the categories have additional qualifiers as to when some or all of the entries in that category will count, so make sure you read carefully.

Sony Press Conference (These can only happen during Sony’s press conference to count)

1. Kazunori Yamauchi appears on-stage to talk about Gran Turismo NGP.
2. Kazunori Yamauchi plays Gran Turismo NGP on-stage.
3. New The Last Guardian trailer or gameplay footage shown.
4. The Last Guardian played on-stage.
5. Dylan Jobe appears on-stage to talk about ‘Starhawk’.
6. ‘Starhawk’ trailer or gameplay footage shown.
7. Resistance 3 trailer or gameplay footage shown.
8. inFamous 2 trailer or gameplay footage shown.
9. Teaser trailer shown for Bungie’s new EA-published cross platform title.
10. Splinter Cell: Conviction announced for PS3.
11. ‘Sorcery’ trailer or gameplay footage shown.
12. ‘Sorcery’ played on-stage.
13. New MGS game announced for both PS3 and NGP.
14. New MGS game will feature significant cross-platform (PS3/NGP) functionality.
15. NGP’s real name is revealed.
16. NGP’s U.S. pricing is announced.
17. NGP’s U.S. release date is announced.
18. Jack Tretton plays one or more NGP games on-stage.
19. PSPgo hailed as a useful experiment that helped guide the development of the NGP.
20. Sony reiterate their apology for the ‘PSN Hack’.
21. The Sony tablets ‘S1’ & ‘S2’ get a mention or make an appearance.
22. The Xperia Play gets a mention or makes an appearance.
23. Kevin Butler does NOT make an appearance.
24. PlayStation 3 160GB console MSRP dropped to $249.99 ($50 cheaper than now).
25. PlayStation 3 160GB console dropped from range. 320GB MSRP drops to $299.99.
26. New firmware update announced that introduces a streamlined in-game XMB.

PS3-Related E3 Happenings (Any time during E3)

27. Agent trailer or gameplay footage shown.
28. At least a tentative release window (season & year or better) announced for Agent.
29. Q Games announce the first of their second series of PixelJunk games (i.e., PixelJunk 2-1).
30. ‘Starhawk’ is playable on the show floor.
31. Resistance 3 is playable on the show floor.
32. inFamous 2 is playable on the show floor.
33. ‘Sorcery’ is playable on the show floor.
34. Twisted Metal PS3 is playable on the show floor.
35. The Last Guardian is playable on the show floor.
36. PS2 software emulation finally working and will be delivered before the year’s end.

PSP & NGP-Related E3 Happenings (Any time during E3)

37. PSP-4000 announced.  PSP will live on as Sony’s low-end handheld.
38. The non-3G NGP’s U.S. price is less than $250.
39. The non-3G NGP’s U.S. price is between $250 and $300 inclusive.
40. The non-3G NGP’s U.S. price is more than $300.
41. ‘Uncharted NGP’ will be a launch-day title.
42. Final Fantasy NGP announced.
43. Syphon Filter NGP announced.
44. Monster Hunter NGP announced.
45. New Killzone NGP title announced.
46. New WipEout NGP title announced.

Microsoft & 360-Related E3 Happenings (Any time during E3, except 47, 48 & 49)

47. Forza 4 is played using Kinect at Microsoft’s press conference.
48. Crytek’s Codename: Kingdoms played at Microsoft’s press conference.
49. GTA 5 revealed at Microsoft’s press conference.
50. New Kinect unit sales numbers revealed.  (Newer than MS’ Q3 figures.)
51. Xbox 360’s successor announced.
52. Nokia-made, Xbox-branded, gaming-focused Windows Phone revealed.
53. Milo returns from his time in the media wilderness to star in a new Lionhead game.
54. Halo: Combat Evolved HD playable on the show floor.
55. The new 343 Industries Halo title is revealed.
56. Crackdown 3 is announced.
57. Shadow Complex 2 is announced.
58. Alan Wake 2 announced.
59. MGS Vancouver’s Kinect shooter announced.

Nintendo-Related E3 Happenings (Any time during E3)

60. Monster Hunter 3DS announced.
61. Pikmin 3DS announced.
62. Kid Icarus Uprising release date announced.
63. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword release date announced.
64. ‘Wii HD’ controller looks remarkably like the bottom half of a 3DS in terms of features and appearance.
65. A 3DS can be used as a ‘Wii HD’ controller.
66. Like the Dreamcast’s VMU, the ‘Wii HD’ controller will enable you to take elements of your game ‘on the move’.
67. A side-scrolling Metroid game is announced for the 3DS.
68. Super Mario Galaxy 3 is one of the playable ‘Wii HD’ games.
69. Super Mario Galaxy 3 will be a ‘Wii HD’ launch title.

Miscellaneous/Cross-platform E3 Happenings (Any time during E3)

70. Ubisoft announce that an Assassin’s Creed movie will be Ubisoft Motion Pictures’ first production.
71. Assassin’s Creed 3 (the game after Revelations) announced.
72. Ubisoft announce Far Cry 3.
73. Activision wait for E3 for their Modern Warfare 3 reveal.
74. EA announce Mirror’s Edge 2.
75. EA show a version of Dead Space 2 running on the ‘Wii HD.

So there you have it, 75 ‘things’ that might happen as part of the E3 festivities of which you can only pick 12.

With the speed with which announcements are being pre-announced and rumours confirmed we have to keep the window for entries quite small.  You only have until 23:59 BST (UTC+1) on Wednesday 11th May 2011 to get your email to me.  Don’t forget to include your twelve numbers, your TSA ID and make sure that you get the subject correct (TSA E3 Bingo 2011).